Christmas is here

Merry Christmas everyone!

I'd like to wish you all a very special, safe and memorable Christmas day and pray that this new year to come will be one full of hope and love that you've never experienced before!
Thanks sooo much for your love, comments and visits in this last year, it really is sooo wonderful to see hear from you!

Well my table is set for a family affair today, the children have all woken early with sheer excitement as they unwrap their gifts and Allan and I watched in delight as we celebrate this Christmas 2010 together!
Have a truly fabulous day, hugs, love and smiles
Sharnee :0)

Christmas Eve goodies to share

It's Christmas eve! WOW can you believe it!! What a glorious day, the sun is shinning the children are sneaking a peak at the presents we wrapped last night and Allan has the next 5 days off! YAY! YAY! YAY!
.... it's the most wonderful time of the year!!
So for today I'm showing you my goodie bags that we will be giving out later today! Each and every year I bake some tasty treats for our very close friends. The children and I have the best time tasting and cooking and wrapping and of course eating.

I have such a great time making tags and doing my "crafty" thing!
How wonderful are the new vintage tags from the mini

Have you guessed what they are??

Paper stocking!! Do you have favourite projects that you see and think to your self "I have to make that!!??" Well when we saw these on page 21 IBC I knew that I'd have to whip some up!
I went with the vintage theme as that's what I like best and gave my sewing machine some brightly coloured red thread and started sewing! I love to sew on card stock it's one of my fav things to do when crafting!
How are your last minute preparations going?? I hope that it's all running smoothly and your really finding it hard to wipe the smile off your face!!!
Merry Christmas Eve!!
Smiles SHarnee :0)
p.s I'll be back later to show you my table decorations....

Stockings
Set: Winter post and Tiny tags and Frames with a flourish (retired)
Ink: Early espresso, Crumb cake, Real red and tea stain
Card: Crumb cake, Real red, Kiwi kiss, Very vanilla and Early espresso
Acc: Lace ribbon, vintage tags, pearls, promo ribbon, crop-a-dile, jumbo eyelets and twine

Showcase of Christmas cards {#ten}

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE EVE!!
2 more sleeps, only TWO MORE SLEEPS!!!!! This morning the children woke early, they ran to the advent to change the countdown and as they thought about how many sleep were left, Zeke suddenly announced
"Coooollll!! Tomorrow's Friday family fun day AND it's the last day before Christmas AND then it's Saturday and it's CHRISTMAS!!! YAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!" At this point he shook his hands in extreme excitement and was kinda shaking, you know what you do sometimes when it's all too much and you want to burst!!!
I have to admit I even have butterflies in my tummy this morning with all the build up and anticipation!!!
So my card today is again one of my favourites ( I know I've said that A LOT but it's true!!) the simple colour combo is wonderful and this too was another stamp-a-stack design I shared with my fabulous customers

When you do classes it's always a great idea to have minimal pieces of cardstock to cut, especially when you have 12 ladies coming along and each needs 5 pieces and there's 3 colours for the card and..... well you do the math! I think that white and red are classic Christmas colours to combine and always look so elegant and stunning, what do you think??

Have a super wonderful Christmas eve, EVE!! (have you heard of this?? The day before the eve of Christmas?? I have some funny stories to tell about people who totally embrace the whole concept of saying it's Christmas eve, EVE to others who look at you like your silly and think it's all a bit on nonsense!!!) Anyway it doesn't work on any other occasion, just today!!
So HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE, EVE!!! Enjoy all those last minute things to do!! Remember to smile and laugh and not get stressed with the busyness!!
Hugs SHarnee :0)

Bauble
Set: Contempo Christmas
Card: Crumb cake, real red and Whisper white
Ink: Versamark & Real red
Acc: Ornament punch, white organza ribbon and rhinestones

Showcase of Christmas cards {#nine}

This year I was blessed to get an early Christmas present from my super husband! It's this wonderful German styled Christmas pyramid which I bought from a local gift shop. I totally love it and how it spins with the heat of the candles. It has little angels singing as it goes around and each night we light it for dinner! The other candles in the background are a selection of different ones I've been collecting just for this time of year.

One of the benefits of getting together with your fellow stamping buddies is that you can borrow their wonderful sets that you might otherwise not have. This is how I was able to make this card

The little tree is so cute and the Teeny tiny sentiments are a perfect choice for this card. OH this is a set that's 50% off at the moment, only till the end of Dec so don't miss out on getting one for yourself!!
Smiles Sharnee :0)

Tiny Tree
Set: Sparkly and bright and Teeny tiny sentiments
Card: Cherry cobbler and very vanilla
Ink: Old olive, Cherry cobbler and chocolate chip
Acc: Square scallop, satin old olive ribbon, markers and rhinestones

Showcase of Christmas cards {#eight}

Is this what your desk looks like in the middle of card writing?? You decide to add a greeting on the inside or perhaps you like to decorate the envelope! Maybe you have a favourite stamp to put on the back to mark that it was made by you! (oh and don't forget to have your phone close by so you {hopefully} don't have to get up and down TOO much!) As you can see I have all of those things when I'm getting ready to post my cards..... fun hey!?!

This card using all things BIG SHOT as I was designing a card for my very wonderful friend Teresa's workshop, I ended up going with more traditional colours on the night but I love how you can make Christmas cards in any colour combo.

Are you a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas colours or do you break out the pinks or blues?
Have a very terrific Tuesday, remember it's only 4 more sleeps....
Smiles and Hugs Sharnee


MERRY
Ink: Blushing bride
Card: Blushing bride, Whisper white & Real red
Acc: Big shot Merry tag, vintage wallpaper embossing plate, Boho flower punch, pearls, frost white shimmer paint & blushing bride ribbon

Showcase of Christmas cards {#seven} and a Pudding too!

We are on day seven now which means there are only 5 more sleeps till Christmas!!! YAY! YAY! YAY!! How are all your preparations going??? I'm hoping to do lots of baking this week for my scrummy gifts that we give (and to have a tasty morsel in the home too!!) In fact we have already made our pudding!!
This year I called in the experts (other than my super mum) and invited Heath over to show me how it's done!!

The fabulous Heath!

Each and every year Heather and her Nan bake the most AMAZING Christmas cake (all fruit) and the traditional Christmas Pudding!!
Let me fill you in a little, (perhaps it's time to grab a cuppa...)
About 9 years ago I made my Nan's recipe of pud with help from my mum and it turned out.... well..... nothing short of perfect! The trouble is that since then each and every year something has gone wrong!!!!!!!!!!
It's either too wet, or gets burnt or is cooked too long or is all stogy!! I've given up! This however is something that I struggle with because next to stamping I LOVE TO COOK! SO to be beat by a recipe is JUST NOT RIGHT!!! Hence the calling in of Heather!!
She puts her pud in a florists cellophane bag first and then wraps it in the cloth, all the rest is the same, boiling time etc.

Sophia mixing up the ingredients

We had the most eventful day this particular pudding making day with Children playing happily to tantrums, ornaments being thrown down the hall like a ball (excepting for the fact that it was a glass ball! HE HE!) Esther not sleeping and Heather's little girl locking herself in the toilet!!! As I said it was eventful!
BUT here is the makings of the pud and of course my Christmas card for today!

The final result:
hanging, waiting for Christmas eve
when I'll see for sure what the
end result is......

Sparkly and bright with a twinkling nose on my little Rudolf!

Happy Monday, Smiles Sharnee :0)

Little Rudolf
Set: Sparkly and Bright
Ink: Chocolate chip and versamark
Card: Old olive, very vanilla and cherry cobbler
Acc: Dazzling diamonds, staple, Jolly holiday DSP, square scallop punch and rhinestone gems

Showcase of Christmas cards {#six}

I hope that you are enjoying my little Christmas card show, I've had the best time coming up with these cards this year and even now my head is buzzing with more ideas of cards to create.... the thing is I don't need anymore so I guess they'll have to wait for next year!
For today's card I'd like to show you a really easy one...

I just recently ordered in this fabulous set and made this card for another one of my stamp-a-stack classes. Each card that the ladies made was different as the DSP and the images from the set were all mixed and matched to make some wonderful cards! I love the colour combo that the Jolly holiday paper displays and have played with this colour theme heaps! I also like how simple this card is, always a good thing when you're making lots!
Hope your weekend is going wonderfully!
Smiles Sharnee :0)

Stockings
Set: Gifted
Ink: Early espresso, Cherry cobbler and old olive
Card: Old olive and very vanilla
Acc: Promo ribbon (retired) markers, DSP Jolly holiday& scallop lace punch

Showcase of Christmas cards {#five}

Crumb cake is one of my ALL time favourite colours and when you mix it with some glitter you have a wonderful combination for a Christmas card. My other fav thing to use is my super Big Shot!!! Especially the embossing plates, they are cheap and make an instant lift on a card!

This card design I showed for one of my stamp-a-stack classes, we had such a lovely night and the ladies who attended (hello Ness, Heather & Trish) had a ball!! We did sooo much chatting and laughing and of course stamping, the night was truly awesome!

See you again tomorrow with day six of my showcase!
Smiles Sharnee :0)

JOY
Set: Basic phases & Delightful decorations
Ink: Crumb cake and early espresso
Card: Crumb cake and very vanilla
Acc: Big shot Vintage wallpaper embossing folder, vanilla taffeta ribbon and champagne glitter

Showcase of Christmas cards {#four}

Today I'm showing you the lovely cards that some of my team "Perfectly Rustics" made the other week.

Firstly we have Kim's card

Now for Sarah

Followed by Sandra

and lastly Lauren

here is my card for the night

Which one is your favourite?? I was HUGELY impressed by them all!!! Such clever ladies I have!
Smiles Sharnee :0)

If there is a question on any of the supplies for these then please leave a comment and I'll let you know! thanks :0)

Showcase of Christmas cards {#three}

Well we are now into the singles and I don't know about you but it's all getting very exciting here!! Now that brings us to my next card......

This is a case from one of my very talented Perfectly Rustics team members Lauren!! (hi lovely)
At our last team meeting we all had to bring a Christmas card design and then each of us made it! We had the best night (will show other cards soon...) and this is one that I just changed ever so slightly. I love the idea of the ornament coming through the card, so pretty too with the embossing on the front! And how about that colour combo.... Lauren WOW'd us all :)


How are you going with your Christmas cards??? I'm all finished... I think!! I've written out 40 so far and just have maybe 3 or 4 left!! YAY!!! I was talking to Heather yesterday and we both said how much we both LOOOOVVVEEE to make the cards but the writing in and sending part seems too huge a task!! Do you feel the same???

Have a great day
Smiles Sharnee :0)

Bauble
Set: Contempo Christmas and Delightful decorations
Ink: Rich razzelberry
Card: Old olive, Rich razzelberry and whisper white
Acc: Big shot embossing folder Final press, ornament punch, satin ribbon and scallop trim border punch.

Showcase of Christmas cards {#two}

So here we are today to see my second card for Christmas. This is one of my favourites as I don't have this set and was able to use it at the stamp camp I attended a few months ago!
I love everything about this card, the shimmer (yes again!!) the glitter and the wonderful polka dot DSP! What do you think???

Another part I especially love is Santas fluffy trim on his hat! This I was given from the fabulous Leanne (who is a knitter) and she had this lovely white yarn which has worked a treat!!! To get the shimmer bread I had to mask his face so the white went on all the right bits & of course Santa has rosy checks out there at the North pole so they had to be added!

Only 10 more sleeps till this jolly, big man comes to town......

you better watch out,
you better not cry,
you better not pout I'm telling you why...
Santa Claus is coming to town!!

Smiles Sharnee :0)

Santa
Set: Holiday hoopla & Curly cute
Ink: Basic black, Cherry cobbler
Card: Confetti white
Acc: Jolly holiday DSP. frost white shimmer paint, pearls, glitter pack red, blender pens and yarn from Leanne!!

Showcase of Christmas cards {#one}

Can you believe it's only 11 more sleeps till Christmas!!!! WOW! The season certainly is upon us now and with school coming to an end and my events now on rest time I wanted to showcase some of the Christmas cards that my loved ones will be receiving this year. SO over the next few days I'll show you some of what I've been up to in preparing for this special time of the year!
First of today is my JOY card. This one I made especially for Amanda who had a workshop with me late last month, she loves red and vintage and wanted me to use the wonderful Ornament punch.
Along the edges of the card I've sponged on some shimmer paint and the fabulous music sheet is from the Newspaper DSP! I love this pack of paper!!
Well I'll see you again tomorrow with another card to show!
Have a super duper Tuesday,
Smiles Sharnee :0)

JOY
Set: Delightful decorations
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Crumb cake and Basic black
Card: Crumb cake, Very vanilla & Cherry cobbler
Acc: Scallop trim punch, small circle punch, Ornament punch, black satin ribbon, champagne shimmer, Newsprint DSP

Just Add Ink Critter Challenge #46

I have the coolest critter card to show you for the latest JAI challenge!! I needed a fun card for my fabulous friends Sons birthday and so was thinking of a "whale of a time" and came up with this!!
Here is the front.... but wait for the inside..... (thinking of you here Kim!! She's super amazing at doing fun things inside her cards!!! I never have enough time to pretty up the inside too....) UNLESS......
I love pop-up cards and for little children I think they are the best!! I made the waves and then with my shimmer paint created the clouds!! LOVE IT!!! Love shimmer paint that is!! How cute do those whales look in the wavy sea!??!


Whales are my ALL TIME FAVOURITE ANIMAL!!! DO check out the other entries as there are some super fab cards!!
YAY!! two posts in one day!! AMAZING!!!
Smiles Sharnee :0)

Whale of a Time
Set: Forest friends and It's your birthday (retired)
Card: Marina mist, Pacific point,Very vanilla and baja breeze
Ink: Marina mist, Pacific point, and baja breeze
Acc: Frost white shimmer paint

And now she is ONE

all the beautiful hand made cards we received when

Esther was born have been hanging above her bed

It's happened!!! Our little Esther has turned one!! I know it was coming (as all birthday's do) but I was really hoping for a little more time to enjoy our baby before the year slipped away!! People keep saying to me " where has the time gone??" my reply is simple
"Let me know if you find out!!"
So with the specail day came some special pictures, and who better to share them with then YOU!
Firstly the card! The pressure is always on when making a card for my children, I always seem to leave it till the last moment and then don't make it as special as I'd like.... so with the eve of her birthday gone I got up early and made this on the day!! I'm totally LOVING doing felt with my big shot! SO much fun!!! ANd the in-colour ribbon this year is gorgeous!!!


Every BIRTHDAY morning, (whom ever's birthday it is) gets to sit smack bang in the middle of our bed and we all gather around and watch the official opening of the gifts!!

Of course with the older children it's more of a game of helping
then of watching Esther do it!!

A new phone!!

On Sunday we celebrated with Family for afternoon tea, it was a lovely day of sunshine and yummy things to eat.

I happened to go with a butterfly theme after making the invites so I got out my Big shot and made these pretty butterflies to hang around the table

photo taken by super sister Sarah

time to blow out the candles, with a little help from Daddy

WOW what a wonderful time we had! Hopefully the next few years don't fly by soo quickly as these precious treasures grow up!
I hope that your week is going wonderfully as we only have 17 more sleeps to go..... YAY!
Smiles Sharnee :0)

Esther's first Birthday
Set: NEW rough Type
Ink: Concord crush & Pink pirouette
Card: Very vanilla & Pink pirouette
Acc: Felt, big shot, ribbon, sewing machine, pearls and Lap of luxury DSP

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

It's Christmas time!!! I'm sooo excited!! I love this time of year which I'm sure most of you do and with the season most certainly upon us I thought I'd share some pictures of us getting into the Christmas spirit that we've celebrated in over the last week.
Last weekend we went to the Launceston Christmas Parade (though it's not much AT ALL compared to Melbourne for instance, it's good to support the local community and do something different for the children!!)

All excited and waiting for it to start!

(Jo Kenzie is one of the children's really great friends, we sat with them!!)

Sweet Esther seeing her FIRST parade

The bagpipes were just a little loud for my gorgeous Sophia!

Zeke loved the trumpet!!
(Allan plays this instrument so there is many a time that the children have a blurt on his!!)

Hannah was doing her own camera work and filming the parade

The real meaning for the Season!! Jesus, God's special gift to us ALL!

One more of us girls!

(note the Kenzie family in the background, we watched it with them, such a wonderful family!!)

Then it was time to put up the tree! Our beautiful treasures all helped soooo wonderfully and we got the "ground work" for the tree done really quickly.

Now time for the decorations...... I love my decorations, most of them are handmade but there are a few special bought ones in there too!

Of course this time last year Esther was only a few days old
so the tree was an exciting toy to discover!!!

Then Sophia couldn't resist dressing her sister up in the Christmas skirt! CUTE!

Lastly we (I mean Allan) put up lights outside. There is a house up the street that "GOES OFF" with lights and we can see it flashing from our office window, so though it's nothing like that we like to do a little!! (will have to provide pic's of that another post!)

So there you have it!! Have you put up your tree yet??? DOne some Christmas shopping perhaps, enjoyed the local parade??? Feel as though you are in the Christmas spirit?? I'd love to hear from you!!!
I hope that your Saturday is a wonderful one,
Smiles Sharnee :0)